Typed letter signed

Ernest HEMINGWAY

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"CAPTAIN JOHN H. HEMINGWAY… RENDERED A SIGNAL SERVICE TO LITERATURE BY PULLING MR. SCOTT FITZGERALD OUT OF THE FIREPLACE WHERE HE HAD GONE TO SLEEP": EXTRAORDINARY TWO-PAGE TYPED LETTER BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY IN CUBA TO NEW YORK TIMES LITERARY CRITIC CHARLES POORE, ANNOTATED AND SIGNED BY HEMINGWAY

Extraordinary 1953 typed letter by Ernest Hemingway at Finca Vigia in Cuba to New York Times literary critic Charles Poore regarding his reaction to the Pulitzer Prize; his decision to send the award check to his son, Bumby, who inspired The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms; the details of why he hates the West (hostility to dogs and hunting regulations); his relationships with numerous famous personalities from F. Scott Fitzgerald to three World War II generals; his opinions on the Mau-Mau in Africa, and mentioning a number of his books, signed and with two corrections and three autograph insertions by Hemingway.

The letter, typed on Finca Vigia airmail stationery and dated "May 2I I953," reads in full: "Dear Charlie: Glad the book is to the printer.

"That is the happiest situation I know. Mary and I were down the coast anchored off Megano de Casigua, which is almost a full atoll well out into the edge of the stream, when we caught the prize news on the evening newscast. Miss Mary made martinis for both of us and we opened up some special cheese for supper to celebrate. There was a big squall and everybody had been wet through and we were both happy. Miss Mary said I was her Pulitzer Prize winning husband and had they given it to me for being a good boy for nearly three years or what? I told her I had never understood the Pulitzer prize very well but that I had beaten Tony Pulitzer shooting and maybe it was for that.

"Then the next morning and in the evening they still had it on the radio at news time and I was pretty sure there would shortly be an announcement from SHAEF that it had been cancelled because I was a civilian or never went to college or something.

"When we got home there was the check and I endorsed it to Mr. Bumby and set it to Ft. Bragg. I think that is sounder procedure than sending it back like Mr. [autograph pencil insertion: 'Sinclair'] Lewiss did [sic]. It is the same as five months jump pay and I thought the check looked nice endorsed to Capt. John H. Hemingway 0-I798575 who helped me write The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and rendered a signal service to literature by pulling Mr. Scott FitzGerald out of the fireplace where he had gone to sleep when we lived at II5 Rue Notre Dame des Champs. Mr. Bumby is very good at many things but he cannot write worth a damn so I thought it was in the finest traditions of the service that he should receive the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. [autograph pencil insertion: 'I didn't mention any of this in the endorsement am still practicing Toujours le fucking politesse.']

"We fish three more marlin tournaments and then get away for Europe and Africa. I've done three years hard here on the island and am three books ahead of the batter so it is okay to take a break.

"Spike should be fine in the Navy. Am one of the few characters that worked in bad times without pay for both establishments and I liked the Navy very much. That was why did not like Harry Butcher. Seeing that son of a bitch with four stripes on always had the same effect as seeing Coolidge wearing a war-bonnet. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if they would have stripped Calvin and put war paint on him as well as the bonnet and put him bare-back naked on a war pony.

"Had a letter from J. Donald Adams, the old Westerner, saying why did I have to go to Africa and why don't I 'come home.' It was a nice letter. But one reason I don't go out west now is because they closed gambling everywhere except Nevada, they have laws you can't bring your dog into a restaurant, and some places now you can't bring your dog into a saloon by state laws and my dog doesn't understand it and thinks it is discrimination. The last time I came through Texas driving with Miss Mary and Blackie she was packing in the Tourist Cottage and I had done to check the car and get some breakfast with Blackie. He is a well behaved dog and I always split breakfast with him. The character who ran the place said, 'You gotta get that dog outa here.' I said, 'All right and you take that plate of ham and eggs and stick it up your ass.' [autograph pencil insertion: 'Always the fucking politesse.']

"Another thing is you can't kill eagles anymore on your bear baits in the fall and take the tails down to the reservation and trade them for a ponies [sic] or for a young squaw. I don't know if Bennie DeVoto, the summer westerner of Mr. Adams went in for this. Am pretty sure Mr. VanWyck Brooks would disapprove.

"Now too if you pack into some country to get some meat in the fall there are six or eight other outfits in there and they shoot at anything that moves. If they shoot at me I shoot right back and sooner or later you will kill somebody doing that and get in trouble.

"Anyway, home is your heart. Places always get over-run. One thing I want to see about Africa is how it has changed. The Mau-Mau business [spelling hand-corrected] doesn't seem the thing to get into the high jerk-off knotch about. There have been I6 whites, I believe, [commas inserted by hand] killed out of a population of 28,000. That runs about 8 deads to a Division. Of course maybe they haven't had the Custer fight yet. But I've seen much worse places to defend than The New Stanley or the Muthaiga Club. Cut away the ornamental underbrush and have a good field of fire and I believe you could hold out at least until the Gin and Tonic ran out.

"I wrote Joe Collins. Don't understand the new set-up too well. It would be an awful shame to lose him and Bradley both. I hear from Buck Lanham but he is very busy with the Ist Division and he always over-works. He has promised me a job if we ever have to fight. I think things are much better and we will probably never have to fight unless someone blowss up [sic] the Battleship Maine.

"Best luck Charlie. I hope we have good luck with the book. But if we don't we will give them some reading for their money. I want to write three good stories on this trip. One trouble I have is that the best stories I know to write I can't publish until Tubby Barton is dead and it would be be very like him to outlive me. [signed] Yours Ernest."

Accompanied by the original typed envelope, postmarked "May 21 1953" from Cuba. This letter was written to Charles "Charlie" Poore, a book reviewer at the New York Times for over 40 years. While Poore is best known in that role, Poore was actually an important military official during World War II and much of Hemingway's writing in this letter refers to Poore's experiences during that time. In fact, Poore took a hiatus from the Times in 1941 to pursue a position at the Office of War Information, where he worked under Archibald MacLeish. Several months into his tenure there, he was moved to Army Intelligence and commissioned as captain. Poore traveled all over Europe and North Africa for the Army during the War, before returning to his work at the Times in 1945. The book Hemingway references at the beginning of the letter was Poore's The Hemingway Reader, published by Scribner's in 1953. Poore described "Hemingway as 'the outstanding story teller, the finest stylist, of his time.' He said he was 'certain that he will stand with Yeats and Joyce as one of the three principal men of letters of our time. And since clocks and calendars move forward, not backward, from here on out he may be the strongest influence that this age will give to posterity'" (New York Times). This letter also discusses Hemingway's celebration of the Pulitzer Prize at length, noting that it began at Cayo Mégano de Casiguas, Hemingway's retreat in Cuba. Hemingway refers to his fourth wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway, who married him in 1946 and remained with him until his suicide. The pair met in London during World War II, where they were both working as war correspondents. Mary went on to become Hemingway's literary executor after his death, publishing several of his works posthumously including A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, and The Garden of Eden. The reference to SHAEF taking back the Pulitzer is a joke about the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, which was in charge of the allied forces in Northwest Europe and became a regular feature in Hemingway's writing after he found himself under SHAEF command during World War II. Hemingway also discusses giving the Pulitzer Prize check to his militarily-inclined son, Jack, affectionately known as Bumby. Jack was regarded by Hemingway as a poor writer with aspirations, but Jack nevertheless served as the inspiration for The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. He was also (apparently) the savior of F. Scott Fitzgerald during Hemingway's time in Paris. A later—particularly revealing—section of the letter mentions Harry Butcher, a naval aide to Eisenhower, with contempt. Hemingway compares his flaunting of his stripes to Coolidge's donning of a war-bonnet following his adoption into the Sioux (he signed of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924). In both cases, Hemingway appears to be making a pointed statement about unearned valor. From there, Hemingway moves on to J. Donald Adams, who was the editor of the New York Times Book Review for nearly 20 years. Hemingway refuses Adams' plea that he go West and instead points out issues with dog acceptance as well as hunting and gambling regulation that render the West a non-option. Hemingway argues that Bernard DeVoto, the noted conservation activist, and Van Wyck Brooks, the literary critic, could not possibly have supported regulations on hunting. Finally, the letter takes a serious turn toward Kenya's Mau Mau, whose struggle against colonialism would result in a violent uprising in 1956. Here, Hemingway over-credits diplomacy, failing to anticipate the eventual war. He does recall Generals J. Lawton Collins and Charles "Buck" Lanham, the latter of whom promised Hemingway a job in the event of war. The letter ends with Hemingway's comic frustration at not being able to publish stories while Major General Raymond O. "Tubby" Barton was still alive. Expected postal stamps, markings, and tears from opening to original envelope.

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AquatintCopperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.

ArmorialUsed to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.

Association Copycopy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.

BoardsHard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.

BroadsideSheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).

CalfBinding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.

ChromolithographLithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.

CollationProcess by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.

ColophonPrinted note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.

DoublurePastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.

Duodecimo(12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.

EditionPrint-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.

EndpapersExtra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.

EngravingIllustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.

ErrataList of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.

FlyleavesAdditional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers.

FolioBook composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep.

Fore-EdgeEdge of the book furthest from the spine. Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting.

FoxingLight brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.

FrontispieceAn illustration facing the title page of a book.

GatheringSingle sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing.

Gilt EdgesThe three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded.

Half TitleLeaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.

IlluminatedDecorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts.

ImprintSatement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page.

IncunableFrom the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501.

IssueA group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available).

Japanese VellumExpensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.

LithographIllustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text

MarginaliaHandwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.

MispaginatedPrinter’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present.

ModernRecently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well.

MoroccoBinding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).

OffsetThe unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.

Period-Stylebinding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.

PlateFull-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text.

PointVariation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing.

Presentation CopyBook given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor.

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RecaseTo reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers.

RectoThe front side of a leaf. The back side is known as the “verso.”

Trade EditionPrinting or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription).

UncutWhen the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well.

UnopenedWhen the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer.

VellumBinding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.

VersoThe back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”)

WoodcutIllustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology.

Wood-EngravingEngraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.

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WrappersPaper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors.